Children's Perceptions of Their Classroom Environment: A Comparison Between Korean and American Gifted Students

The nature of the classroom environment is an important variable to understand when fostering creativity for elementary children. Studies of the classroom climate, structure or interaction commonly depend on behavioral observations or reports from the teacher or other adult-observer. Recent studies have used self-report instruments completed by students regarding their perceptions of various aspects of their class (see Fraser, 1991). The purpose of this study was to determine the developmental differences in the ratings of classroom environment between Korean students who are gifted and their American peers. The My Class Inventory was administered to 141 elementary students in grades three, four, and five. There were 65 Korean students and 76 American students who were identified as gifted by their schools. Reliability coefficients were calculated for all scales (satisfaction = .68: friction, .67; competition = .57; cohesion = .73; difficulty = .22). Results of a multivariate analysis illustrated significant differences between students from Korea and students from America on the MCI. Univariate analysis of variance of cultural group by grade level were conducted for four of the five scales. Significant differences were found by country for the cohesion scale and by country at grade levels for the satisfaction scale. American children expressed greater satisfaction than their Korean counterparts at all grade level, but particularly at grade five. Implications for further research are discussed.